1. The general quadratic function of two variables has six terms. How many terms are in the general cubic function of two variables?
2. Use the contour plot of orange-banana flavor to estimate the “flavor coordinates” of the best-tasting drink.
3. Find the maximum on the flavor response surface by finding the critical point of the function G(x, y).

4. Without shading or numbers on the contours, how would you know that the point you found in Exercises 2 and 3 represents the best flavor rather than the worst flavor?

5. Our best drink has a predicted flavor rating of 7.14, but one of our test drinks got a higher rating, 7.2. What’s going on?

6. Blanching efficiency has a maximum near the center of the temperature–time plane. What is going on near the center of the plane for the roasted flavor and overall flavor response surfaces? Within the domain plotted, where does overall flavor reach a maximum?
7. In the overall flavor contour plot, if we move one contour toward higher flavor from the “pointed” 5.5 contours, we find curved contours that represent an overall flavor rating of about 5.6. If instead of requiring an overall flavor rating of 5.5 we decided to require a rating of 5.6, what would happen to our process design?

8. Use the last figure to describe the other region in the temperature– time plane that delivers a successful process for preparing nuts for blanching.